Tea at Trianon: Trial at Large

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, October 4, 2024

Trial at Large

The fascinating blog Culture and Stuff has linked to an old book which contains the entire transcript of Marie-Antoinette's trial in English. (Via Vive la Reine.) Many people have written to me over the years asking for an online account in English and here is one at last. It was compiled in 1793 right after the Queen's death. Read HERE. Share

2 comments:

Julygirl said...: Good to know about it.; August 12, 2011 at 11:53:00 AM EDT
cultureandstuff said...: Thanks for sharing this. Too often the trial gets dismissed as a sham, which of course it was, but it remains a fascinating, layered piece of history and a remarkable insight into Marie Antoinette's always enigmatic personality. Her behaviour in court, under unimaginable strain, clearly shows how much she has been toughened by recent events, and how deeply unfair is the persistent myth of Marie Antoinette as light-headed and flimsy. Would love to hear people's reactions to the document!; August 14, 2011 at 5:22:00 AM EDT